


Thoughts in shambles

by charons_boat



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Fighting Zombies, Guns, M/M, Mentioned Kim Mingyu, Mentioned Lee Taeyong, Mentioned Zhong Chenle, Near-Death situation, Supply Run, Zombie Apocalypse, Zombies, fighting and killing zombies, members of seventeen mentioned, mentioned choi seungcheol - Freeform, mentioned joshua hong - Freeform, mentioned lee jihoon - Freeform, mentioned park jisung - Freeform, raiding other settlements, running over zombies with cars, use of golf clubs as weapons, zombie hordes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:42:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25948279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charons_boat/pseuds/charons_boat
Summary: The sudden appearance of zombies in the world had changed a lot of things, but it didn't change one of the most integral parts of human nature: fighting each other.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	Thoughts in shambles

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kingboo_ghosty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kingboo_ghosty/gifts).



> told from doyoung's pov, since his name isn't said much. if you were curious about who all is in the two groups, i'll list them in the endnote. i think everything that needs to be warned is in the tags. 
> 
> hannah, i hope you like this! there isn't much romance... but there's zombies and they're kinda funny i guess.

While the apocalypse had changed many things in the world, such as introducing the walking dead as a real and imminent danger and preventing any kind of real government from functioning amongst the chaos, it hadn't touched upon the distaste humans had for each other. As such, while many had grouped together in fortified buildings, which slowly expanded to the size of small towns in the countryside where people could farm and hunt and fish, there was still conflict and distrust amongst the groups.

The group I'd ended up being a part of hates one group in particular. They're on the other side of the forest and have somehow managed to find a safe path through; though we haven't been able to find their passage yet, we know it must exist because the forest is filled with zombies, yet despite that this other group constantly comes and tries to raid us for the crops we grow and the livestock we rear.

There's one man in particular that I hate, though I hold the rest of his group in no higher regard than I do him. He's the only one of the group whose name I know, because the curly brunet told me the first day they attacked us.

We'd been unprepared at the time, so they'd managed to breach our walls and engage us in battle. His hair had been a faded pink back then, but he'd looked no less intense with the softer color in his hair than he does now with the curly brown. He'd found himself in front of me almost immediately and had smirked insufferably, a beautiful thing that brought deep dimples to his cheeks and scrunched up his eyes a bit. He raised a gun and cocked it, but he'd dropped it when the blunted tines of the rake collided with the bones of his wrist. He'd hissed in pain for a moment before smiling again, looking more genuine this time.

"You're quick. I'm Jung Jaehyun. I'd say I'm sorry we're here, but I'm not." And then he'd knocked me to the ground, the rake had fallen from my hand, and we continued fighting with bare fists until he and his group slipped away with some of our supplies and a wealth of wounds.

Usually, when we make trips to the city, only a few of us climb into the Jeep, armed with whatever guns and weapons are in the best condition. I almost always go, because I volunteer so there will be less chance for one of the younger boys to be picked for the group of four. I know that they're hardly children by now, but I can't help but want to protect them from the world outside our walls. Today, it's Joshua, Taeyong, Mingyu and I who climb into the car. We'll try once more to find ammunition and gas, though I doubt we'll find very much; beyond that, it's a run for clothing and any extra food or seeds, and new gardening tools if we can find them. Taeyong is one of the only members of the group who rarely uses guns, like me: he uses a bow and arrow or crossbow while I use golf irons.

I wonder if Taeyong plans to drive in the area with the mall in it, because I wanna see if the sports section has more clubs. All I've got left are my gap and sand wedges and the driving iron I brought today. We're about ten miles outside town, a short drive depending on how fast Taeyong drives, and the familiar scenery flashes past. Sometimes I'm grateful for the apocalypse, because before it happened I never really got outside the office, let alone the city, and I'd forgotten how much beauty was right outside the city. Now, though, going into the city is nostalgic in a way that reminds me of the friends I'd made and lost.

Our visit to the city has been going well: we managed to find a few unopened boxes of clothing and load them up in the back of the Jeep, and I find a few more bags of clubs. I empty as many irons as I can manage into one of the sturdier cylindrical bags and sling it over my back. It's pretty top-heavy because of the weight of the club heads, but I balance it out after a moment and raid the store's stash of gloves until I have two mismatched, fingerless gloves for both my hands. One is a tan, almost leathery cloth on the palm and has pale, off-white crocheting on the back, while the other is pink leather all around, with small holes at the knuckles and along the back. Both gloves, the tan and white one on my left hand and the pink one on my right, have velcro tabs on the back.

I rest my driving iron on my right shoulder and begin to make my way back down to the car, knowing that the others are likely almost done with their tasks. Mingyu and Joshua had gone searching for food, because it was easily the hardest resource to find in the city aside from gasoline, leaving Taeyong to gather more clothing. No one is in the car when I make it down to street level, so I shrug the golf bag off my shoulder and push it as far back in the trunk as I can. There are already a few more boxes of clothing stacked on top of each other, which had given me a bit of trouble while putting the new irons clubs in the back. The other three come down with a small box each, which I assume to be food, just as the first gunshots ring out.

We all jump into the Jeep as quickly as we can after securing the supplies in the back, and begin to drive back towards our home; unfortunately, that means we have to drive in the direction of the gunshots and likely won't have any time to search for more gas.

The conflict is happening in an overgrown park with shaggy grass and twisted trees, and the first person I spot just happens to be Jaehyun. He's with five others, and they're in the middle of a massive crowd of zombies. I can tell Taeyong is debating whether or not to stop and help, glancing restlessly between the road and the dangerous situation off to the right. He makes his decision rather quickly, and really it would've surprised me more if he'd abandoned them.

"Hold on!" That's all the warning we get before he cuts the wheel to the right and drives into the crowd of zombies. Mingyu and Joshua begin firing at the zombies on either side of them, and I stand in my seat--which is only possible because we took the roof off the car at some point after the founding of our little village--and swing my club at any of the zombies that manage to climb onto the Jeep. Taeyong skids to a stop and I take the moment of stillness to pull myself up, plant my feet on the thick metal bars that had held the roof up, and jump into the cleared area where the men who tend to be our adversaries are trying desperately to survive. They stand for a second in stunned silence before Jaehyun blurts out a surprised exclamation.

"Doyoung?!" I swing the iron left and right, clipping shoulders on bad swings and caving in temples on good ones.

"Fire off the gun, Jaehyun! Or are you just gonna stand there and make us do all the work to save you idiots," I snarl over my shoulder and continue my attack. He seems to snap out of his stupor, because a moment later there's a bang right by my ear. After only two more, Jaehyun curses and starts using the butt of his pistol as a way to hit the zombies harder. I hear more cursing from the other members of his group and groan in aggravation. "Jaehyun, take this and cover me! You are giving it back the moment I've got a different one, though!" I barely give him a moment to process my words before I thrust the driving iron into his hand and run back to the Jeep. It's difficult to get at the bag of irons, but I pull out six and climb back out, yelling to Mingyu and Joshua that there are irons in the back if they need them.

The other members of Jaehyun's group are understandably when I press the golf clubs into their hands and demand they give them back once the zombies are gone; when I'm next to Jaehyun once more, he quickly trades me clubs, and I'm pleased to see that he hasn't left too many dents in it. For a while, it's just the moaning of zombies and the thud of weapons on dead flesh. Jaehyun starts talking out of nowhere though, and I find it's easier than I expected to respond while fighting.

"Why'd you guys stop?"

"Taeyong's a softie," I tell him. "He's the one with the bad dye job. None of us are very good at it, and he always had it done professionally before, so it always looks kinda bad."

"Yeah, I caught a glimpse of that a few times, but honestly he's so handsome that he makes it kinda work. Why'd you give us clubs?"

"They're quieter. The less noise we make with weapons, the sooner this fight will be over. Irons are really the only ones worth your time, because drivers are blunt and putters are so painfully short," I tell him.

"What kind did you give me? And why don't your gloves match?" I really don't know why I'm answering his questions, but I can't find it in me to stop as we slowly carve a path through the zombies around us. We begin, at some point, to fight back-to-back so none of the ones behind us will close in.

"You got a 7 iron. They have shorter shafts than a one or two, but the heads are still pretty heavy. You've got long arms, so it kinda cancels. And when you golf, you aren't really supposed to wear a pair of gloves, just one on your non-dominant hand. These ones aren't made in a pair, so they don't match. I mean sure, I could've found two of the same style, but I just like wearing gloves that don't match because it pisses off some of the guys at home, like--"

"Oh come on, Doyoung! You couldn't have found the time to get two gloves that match?!"

"--Mingyu." The smile that spreads over my lips is perhaps a little meaner than it should be, and I'm sure Mingyu can see my expression from wherever he's standing.

"Sure I could've, Mingyu," I shout back. "But it wouldn't have been near as much fun as seeing your reaction!" I hadn't realized how far we'd managed to make it until the tide of zombies parts for a moment to show the others surrounded by a much thinner crowd. I'm about to suggest to Jaehyun that we make our way back to the others when I hear a cry behind me and feel the shaft of the iron hit my leg. I whirl around to find Jaehyun on the ground with zombies looming over him.

Within moments, I'm standing with my legs on either side of him, swinging the club at anything that moves in front of me. Jaehyun throws his booted feet in the face of every zombie that comes near his legs, and I try to hit the zombies so that they'll fall to either side of Jaehyun instead of on top of him. Really, though, it's hard to see past the haze of red that's taken over my field of vision, and honestly I don't understand why I'm so angry that Jaehyun nearly died behind my back.

After a few moments, he's tapping the back of my legs, and I step away so he can scramble to his feet with the club still in hand. It's significantly quieter now, and most of the horde is dead. It's easy to make our way back to the Jeep and regroup, almost effortlessly working together to take down the last of the zombies. The moment everything is dead, I gather my clubs back up, thank everyone for leaving them in fairly decent shape, and clean them with the towel I always have folded up and shoved in my back pocket. Taeyong speaks with the leader of the other group, a tall noiret who's fairly handsome with thick biceps while Jaehyun helps me put my clubs in the back, though I keep the driving iron out. He wanders around for a moment before clearing his throat. When I turn to him, he's scuffing his shoes against the grass and has his hands shoved in his pockets.

"So… honestly, I'll bet Seungcheol tells everyone that we won't be raiding your settlement anymore-- once we get home, that is." At my inquisitive look, he nods at the man Taeyong is talking to. "He's our leader. He had a fit when Jisung and Chenle asked to come, and he only allowed it because Kun and I are along too. Of course, Minghao practically being their bodyguard was likely a factor in his allowing them to come as well. He usually has a sword with him because he got classical training in it as a kid and it's what he prefers, but he must've forgotten today. But, uhm, anyways… thanks for lending us your clubs, and for saving my life."

"It was nothing. I got plenty of clubs today, so I had a few to spare if you'd managed to break any. And about saving you… I just got mad, I dunno. Like, I got mad that you fell or whatever, even after I gave you my favorite club, I guess. I don't know really. And besides, it wouldn't be as satisfying to kill you if you were turned, so really I was just saving an opportunity for myself." I really hope he can hear the joking in my voice. I don't know why, but I don't mean it anymore. I don't want to hate _or_ kill him. I guess it might be some kind of battle bond: it feels harder to want to kill someone you just saved from death, after all.

"Guys, gather up!"

"Time for a talk, lads!"

"Your leader says 'lads'?"

The two leaders tell us that because of the help we gave today, they decided to call a ceasefire between us. Taeyong had promised to send food and livestock when possible, and Seungcheol had said that they'd bring over any arrows or crossbow bolts they managed to find, because none of their members used those, as well as irons and golfing clubs for me.

Just before we part ways, Jaehyun reintroduces himself and tells me that he's sorry for all the trouble he'd personally caused me in the past, and that he's interested in getting to know me. The tone of voice he says that in brings a blush to my cheeks, and the others tease me about it as Taeyong starts back towards our home. I suppose that it's kind of nice to not have to worry about the threat from the other group which is so close to us, and to not immediately feel hate when Jaehyun's name or face comes into my mind suddenly.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on twt @sunwooseok_  
> (i just used a random spinner for) the two groups: 
> 
> group 1:  
> joshua  
> dokyeom  
> haechan  
> xiaojun  
> doyoung  
> renjun  
> vernon  
> hendery  
> johnny  
> mingyu  
> sicheng  
> dino  
> lucas  
> jaemin  
> jeno  
> taeyong  
> taeil
> 
> group 2:  
> woozi  
> mark  
> jisung  
> kun  
> jeonghan  
> yangyang  
> seungcheol  
> hoshi  
> yuta  
> wonwoo  
> seungkwan  
> jaehyun  
> chenle  
> jun  
> ten  
> minghao  
> jungwoo


End file.
